Updated June 1 2013 1 08 AM ET
OKLAHOMA CITY Tornadoes rolled in from the prairie and slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs Friday trapping people in their vehicles as a storm swept down an interstate highway while commuters tried to beat it home.
A mother and her baby were killed but meteorologists who had warned about particularly nasty weather said the storm's fury didn't match that of a deadly twister that struck suburban Moore last week. Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area ripping the roof off a suburban casino.
About 50 people were hurt five critically hospital officials said.
A tornado touches down near El Reno Okla. Friday May 31 2013 causing damage to structures and injuring travelers on Interstate 40.
/ The Omaha World Herald AP Photo Chris MachianFriday's broad storm hit during the evening rush hour and stuck around causing havoc on Interstate 40 a major artery connecting suburbs east and west of the city and dropping so much rain on the area that streets were flooded to a depth of 4 feet.
To the south a severe storm with winds approaching 80 mph rolled into Moore where a top of the scale EF5 tornado killed 24 on May 20.
Rick Smith the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Norman said that while the storm packed a powerful punch it wasn't as strong as the Moore tornado.
This storm had everything you could handle at one time tornadoes hail lightning heavy rain people clogging the highways Smith said.
The region was fortunate because the storm touched down mostly in rural areas and missed central Oklahoma City.
It's not even close to anything like what we had last week Smith said. We were very concerned this would move into downtown. It would have been a major problem. It made all the difference that it was out in the country.
Play Video
What factors led to lives being saved in this week's tornadoesCBS News weather consultant David Bernard reported Friday evening that unfortunately we have those tornado watches in some of the same places we've had them from the last couple of nights. Most of them right now are located in Oklahoma also into southeastern Kansas and a good chunk of southwestern and central Missouri numerous severe thunderstorms ongoing right now also a severe thunderstorm watch covering eastern Minnesota and a good portion of northern and central portions of Wisconsin.
Looking ahead to Saturday Bernard continued we have a wide area of potential severe weather extending from central and north Texas right through the Missouri River valley into the Midwest as far north as Michigan and extending as far east it looks like as portions of Ohio.
The U.S. averages more than 1 200 tornadoes a year and most are relatively small. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950 Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most seven times each.
Heavy rain and hail hampered rescue efforts in Oklahoma City. Frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the main threat had moved east. Highways and streets were clogged late into the night as motorists worked their way around flooded portions of the city.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said troopers found the bodies of a woman and an infant near their vehicle. Randolph said it's not known if the woman was driving into the storm when it hit around 7 p.m. Friday.
Play Video
Violent weather takes aim at heart of AmericaEmergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the area along I 40 and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. Troopers requested a number of ambulances at I 40 near Yukon west of Oklahoma City.
We're scrambling around said Lara O'Leary a spokeswoman for the local ambulance agency. There is very low visibility with the heavy rain ... so we're having trouble getting around.
Our big concern is to get people off the highways and get them safe Gov. Mary Fallin told CNN.
Standing water was several feet deep and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado.
In Missouri the combination of high water and fallen power lines closed dozen of roads snarling traffic on highways and side streets in the St. Louis area. At the Hollywood Casino in suburban of Maryland Heights gamblers rushed from the floor as a storm blew out windows and tore off part of the roof.
Rich Gordon of Jefferson City said he was on the casino floor when he heard a loud boom.
I didn't know if it was lightning or what but it was loud Gordon said.
In Oklahoma storm chasers with cameras in their cars transmitted video showing a number of funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and into Oklahoma City just south of downtown. Police urged motorists to leave I 40 and seek a safe place.
I'm in a car running from the tornado said Amy Sharp who last week pulled her fourth grade daughter from the Plaza Towers Elementary School as a storm approached with 210 mph winds. I'm in Norman and it just hit Yukon where I was staying since last week's storm.
Parts of Oklahoma City experience extreme flooding after multiple tornado's passed through Central Okla. on Friday May 31 2013 in Oklahoma City.
/ AP Photo/Nick OxfordI'm with my children who wanted their mother out of that town Sharp said her voice quivering with emotion.
At Will Rogers World Airport southwest of Oklahoma City passengers were directed into underground tunnels and flights were canceled. However people near the area said they weren't aware of any damage.
Television cameras showed debris falling from the sky west of Oklahoma City and power transformers being knocked out by high winds across a wider area.
As the storm bore down on suburban Oklahoma City Adrian Lillard 28 of The Village went to the basement of her mother's office building with a friend her nieces nephews and two dogs.
My brother's house was in Moore so it makes you take more immediate action Lillard said while her young nieces played on a blanket on the floor of the parking garage. We brought toys and snacks to try our best to keep them comfortable.
Well before Oklahoma's first thunderstorms fired up at late afternoon the Storm Prediction Center in Norman was already forecasting a violent evening. From the Texas border to near Joplin Mo. residents were told to keep an eye to the sky and an ear out for sirens.
No comments:
Post a Comment